LuciSun is involved in a wide range of national, European and international research projects that support the continuous development and validation of its methods, tools and engineering practices. These projects provide a structured framework to explore new ideas, test advanced approaches and confront them with real-world constraints, while remaining anchored in rigorous scientific methodologies.

The research projects carried out by LuciSun cover key topics in photovoltaic system engineering, including advanced 3D PV simulation, solar resource assessment, agrivoltaics, bifacial and building-integrated photovoltaics, PV performance analysis and system optimisation. Together, they reflect the diversity of PV applications and the increasing complexity of modern photovoltaic systems.

A common thread across these projects is their strong connection between modelling, data and practice. Many projects explicitly combine numerical simulation, experimental measurements, demonstrator design or operational data analysis. This makes it possible to validate modelling assumptions, identify their limits of applicability and progressively improve the robustness and transparency of PV assessments.

LuciSun’s research projects are supported by a diverse range of funding programmes and agencies, including the European Commission through Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and COST actions, the European Space Agency (ESA), national programmes such as the Plan Nacional Estratégico in Spain and SPW Win4Doc in Belgium, as well as industrial innovation programmes such as the Repsol Foundation Entrepreneurs Fund.

Many of these projects originate from LuciSun’s active involvement in the conception and preparation of collaborative research proposals, including contributions to the writing and structuring of proposals, the definition of scientific objectives and the organisation of work plans in close interaction with academic and industrial partners.

These projects are carried out in collaboration with a broad network of universities, including the University of Liège, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), KU Leuven, the Solar Energy Institute of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (IES-UPM), the University of Jaén, the University of Twente and Delft University of Technology. LuciSun also works closely with leading research centres active in photovoltaic and energy system research, such as CEA-INES, EURAC, Tecnalia, NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, Fraunhofer ISE, imec and Cenaero.

In parallel, several projects involve direct collaboration with companies at the forefront of solar energy innovation, including Solargis, 3E, QPV, Repsol and Engie Laborelec. These interactions help ensure that research developments remain connected to industrial practice and real market needs.

The projects presented below illustrate how LuciSun uses research collaborations not as isolated academic exercises, but as a means to strengthen its technical expertise and to ensure that its tools and services remain reliable, well-founded and relevant for practical PV applications. Each project contributes specific insights, and together they form a coherent research trajectory spanning modelling, performance assessment and system optimisation.